What has happened to the atlantis simulator from Level 2?

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Jessyka
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What has happened to the atlantis simulator from Level 2?

Post by Jessyka »

I keep seeing references to it being decommissioned or rehabbed or now on display in the museum but no firm news. Does anyone know what the current state of the Level 2 Atlantis simulator is?
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Re: What has happened to the atlantis simulator from Level 2?

Post by Hotdog »

When I last visited back in July, she was being used for Parent-Child Camp shuttle missions. She's kinda hidden back behind the new Science On Orbit ISS exhibit.

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Re: What has happened to the atlantis simulator from Level 2?

Post by Jessyka »

Do you know if they gut her interior or is it the same inside as it was when she was being used for level 2?

I'm glad to see that she is still around in some form or another. She was always my favorite.
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Re: What has happened to the atlantis simulator from Level 2?

Post by Hotdog »

She was my favorite too, back in the day. She was the most "high fidelity" shuttle flight deck we had, since she was built for the Space Camp movie. Sadly, she was robbed of many of her switches in the mid-to-late 90s to make the newer shuttle sims. So the modern Atlantis most campers know of now is not the one we remember.
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Re: What has happened to the atlantis simulator from Level 2?

Post by p51 »

Ah, the Atlantis. :D This sums up my feelings for her quite well:
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I got to fly that sim as CDR for an LDM in 2013. The trainers were telling us about the history of that sim (they said it was the one they used as the real Atlantis in the 'Spacecamp" movie, though I've never seen anything to specifically support that, nor any photos showing what it looked like before it was changed to look like the Enterprise sim on the inside) and I was a little disappointed to see it didn't look any different from the "Big E" parked (at that time) close by from the inside.
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Heck, the previous year I never even saw the Atlantis sim as we never got back there where it was housed. It was pretty well hidden on the floor, as was the MOCR for it. I don't think you could see either at all unless you got into the very center of the training floor.
I've been lucky enough to get a PLT or CDR seat on a mission on three of the four STS sims while they were still active, something I guess can't be done anymore in a normal SC session? The Endeavour is the only one I've never used. heck, I've never even peeked inside her, now that I'm thinking about it...
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Re: What has happened to the atlantis simulator from Level 2?

Post by Boomerang »

Atlantis is definitely not what she one was. I have always heard the story it was the set used in the movie as well and camp even use to say it in promotional photos over the years. However I have my doubts as every account I have of filming the movie talks about a cockpit suspended above the floor that could be manipulated into different positions to make it look like the kids were floating because they would be at different angles. Looking at Atlantis the simulator I don't see that being possible.

I can however attest that she use to be one of the most high fidelity cockpits that camp had. I got to take a look inside back in 93 I wish I had pictures but had used up all my film already and it was the final day of camp. It looked like a real shuttle inside back then. They stripped her down a lot in the late 90s or early 2000s I think a lot of it was making it a "glass cockpit" or at least that was the idea at the time. It never really translated well and to me it made the interiors of all the orbiters at cam look the same and look very simple compared to what they use to look like. One thing that did change was many of the sims Enterprise included the switches and even joysticks didn't use to do anything the sims were basically procedures trainers flip switches to learn the tasks but whether you flip them or not had no real impact on the mission but counselors obviously paid attention while grading missions. When they gutted Atlantis and others at the very least shuttle landing software was now installed you actually landed the sims or crashed. And some of what you did had actual consequence. They traded realistic looking cockpits for real functionality. Also keep in mind a high fidelity sim looks great for filming and may hold up for a few years but week after week of repeated use will take a big toll on switches and other pieces in the sim.

If you want to know what it use to look like and the way I remember it in 93 check out the famous promotional photo of the two space campers looking backwards from the commander and pilot seat that was Atlantis. Though by 93 I think the PEAP's on the back of the seats were gone.
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